The best services to use when moving to Malaysia

Not sure how to reply here.

When I came, I came alone, no help or services at all. I did know someone vaguely but had a rough start. I dont think I was so common because most expats come via specific jobs in which many services are built into the deal, like those services offered by relocation companies. With so much already being taken care of by employers, the expat may never know which services were utilized. They just move in!

For others who didnt have a gold-plated employment contract, every possible service is desired, if not required. All of you know whats needed, does it really need to be said?

Whats needed is--
Someone to pick you up at the airport and take you to your hotel. Next several days, take you everywhere to get to know areas and find a rental; negotiate that rental for you; show you where to eat, what to eat, what to avoid, where to shop for clothes, food; take you to buy furniture somewhere and start teaching you basic Malay words; get that furniture delivered and set up; take you to buy appliances and housewares' where and how to exchange money; take you to the right bank to open an account; then take you shopping to buy a car because you have no idea what you are doing; order internet and phone, get that installed for you; buy a SIM card if not also a phone, too; get you introduced to a good doctor and dentist and vet for your animal; locate and procure an honest babysitter and/or maid; introduce you to all the various cuisines. This is literally an endless list. The keyword is you need a temporary full time helper who knows everything and wont charge you a cent for the help because you cant afford to pay them what they are worth.

Whats needed is something that doesnt even exist. The only times i know when a person would come close to this level of service is a guy who has promised love to a Malaysian female and for that promise she might break her back helping you get set up. Otherwise, I cant think of a soul willing to do it, even for money. This means you are on your own and GOOD LUCK to you during your own "rough start."

A job with a huge company usually means everything will be set up for you upon arrival. For others, you need to develop a certain amount of bravery and cleverness to get it done yourself the hard and slow way. Asking questions in a forum is about the most service you can reasonably expect and thats not much and not a substitute for personal service or your own work, the kind thats really needed.

Id like to hear from others how they did it and what they were able to do, and streamline, and do without, too. Its a good topic. Myself, I did the above slowly, in steps. One learning thing leads to another; one accomplished task teaches you about doing the next one. Its tedious and time consuming but I kept my head on and chin up and listened to any advice given so I could decide on choices, times, places, people, circumstances. For me, I used basic tools---pen, notebook, phone, taxis. Those four words basically defined my first several months here. It was difficult but also exciting, too.

When I moved here two and a half years ago, the biggest hurdles were finding a place to live that suits both my husband and my sons commute each day. I found that everyone I spoke to gave me different advise and lived in different areas in KL. (I had to go with my gut on this one)

The second issue was finding a good reliable helper and agent, I found the agents tried to over charge my for the service and each helper I interviewed had either little or no experience and/or little english which made conversing very difficult. (I ended up hiring a friends helper)

Third hurdle would be finding experienced and reliable handy men who knew what they were doing and were qualified to fix the issues we had in our home. (thank you Facebook as there are a few groups that gave great advise)

MANZA was great at giving advise and allowing me to network, they answered any niggling questions I had and I got the opportunity to try new restaurants and attend events.

I would love a one-stop-shop where you could find everything and everyone at a click of a button.

The only thing I found over priced was the agent when we were looking for a domestic helper, he tried to charge me a different price every time we met. I ended up doing it (mostly) myself which was time consuming, irritating (there is very little information online) and misleading.

Finding a domestic helper would be daunting for a newcomer, but asking others would result in a person being able to do it themselves, no agent. However, doing it yourself also means taking responsibility for everything, including getting rid of a bad helper. Thats really the point of an agent, they let you trade in, plus deal with helper issues that are sure to rise and about which a person doesnt know what to do. They have their value provding one can find a good one.